And then her fists are flying at me in a combination of hooks, jabs, and uppercuts. I’m impressed by how much speed and strength she still has after being stabbed, forcing me on defense. I dodge her blows until I land one of my own, square in her jaw.
She grunts in pain before sending a roundhouse kick at my temple. I barely block it, her heel still clipping the side of my head. We dance around each other, throwing various combinations of punches and kicks.
Her fist crashes into my lip and my head snaps to the side before I spit blood. I send a hard kick into her already wounded side and she screams in pain. Then I land a blow under her jaw, another to her wound, a kick to her temple.
She cries out, trying to hit me with a lazy punch but I catch her wrist easily, twisting it at an odd angle before kneeing her in the stomach. I grab her shirt in one hand while the other is balled into a fist currently cocked back and ready to strike. I send it flying towards her face, ready to end this fight with one final blow.
Except my fist doesn’t move.
Cold hands clamp around both of my wrists, pulling at my arms until they are tucked tightly behind my back. I’m so shocked, so strained and tired that I can’t fight the strong grip, can’t do anything to break my hands free.
My head whips around and I’m face-to-face with a bloody nosed Sadie, the one I fought immediately before.
“Look at me, Paedyn.” My head snaps back the original Sadie now clutching a knife in her bloody hands before me. I kick at the legs of the Sadie behind me, only causing her to kick in the back of my knees, sending me crashing into the ground.
Helpless. Powerless.
Sadie stands over me, seeming to contemplate something as I kneel before her. “You are never going to stop fighting me, are you?” In response, I writhe in the Sadie’s grip, desperately trying to break free. She shakes her head at me, offering an apologetic look. “Maybe Kai was right. The less competition, the better.”
She grabs the handle of the dagger in both hands, raising it above her head.
So this is how I die.
I’ve survived my whole life as an Ordinary, and yet, this is how it ends. By a measly dagger. I can’t tell if I want to laugh or cry.
Sadie holds the knife above her head, ready to plunge it into my rapidly beating heart as she whispers, “I told you I didn’t want to do this. But I have to.”
Kai will be furious that he saved my life for nothing.
“I’m sorry,” Sadie chokes out as the tip of the blade comes racing towards my heart. And impossibly, unbelievably, I’m suddenly ready for it.
I’ll see you soon, Father.
Nothing.
The blade stops mere inches away from my heart.
I’m shaking, my eyes trailing from the halted knife to my almost-killer. Blood pours out of Sadie’s mouth, followed by a gurgled gasp slipping between her lips. She looks down, wide-eyed, and I follow her gaze to the sword now protruding from her chest.
The dagger slips from her fingers as tears slip down her cheeks. She stumbles back, gasping, into a broad chest. Kai wraps his arms around her and gently guides her to the ground, a sickening gargling sound slipping past her lips.
And then she’s suddenly silent, her hazel eyes staring up at the black sky—wide, unseeing, and glossy.
The Sadies around us flicker out of existence, leaving my hands free to cover my mouth as I choke on a gasp. I’m trying to take in what just happened, trying to take in air as I wheeze weakly.
Kai drops to his knees beside me, worry crinkling his brow. “Are you hurt?” His eyes roam over me like the fingers now lightly roaming up my body, checking for injuries just as they had a few nights before. “Paedyn, look at me.” Rough hands are cupping my face now, guiding my gaze towards him. “Tell me, did she hurt you?”
“I-I’m fine.”
I’m not fine.
I hate these Trials because they kill people, and now I’ve just witnessed it firsthand. I’ve been a part of it. I didn’t ask for any of this, didn’t want anyone to die. And now, another victim of the Trials lays motionless mere feet away.
“I told you I don’t want to do this. But I have to.”
Sadie didn’t want to kill me, and yet, I almost wish she had. Almost wish I had a reason to hate her, a reason to wish this fate upon her. But it’s these twisted Trials that forced her shaking hand to raise that dagger above her head, forced her into nearly taking a life.
I glance at her bloody body lying limp and so close. An image of my father flashes before my eyes, replacing the girl who tried to kill me with the father who would have killed for me. I witnessed him die similarly, and I try to blink the image away. But his bloody body doesn’t budge—
“Hey, look at me, alright? Don’t look at her, look right at me.” Kai’s hands are still gently holding my face when I slide my gaze back to his, trying to focus on something other than the death in front of me. Except, the prince himself seems to be death incarnate, a wielded weapon.
“Focus on my eyes. I know how much you like to stare into them.” His gray gaze sparkles with amusement, and the corner of his lips kick up while my own mouth falls open. He knows me well enough to know that I’m about to start telling him off in response to that little comment, so he presses a finger to my lips before I get the chance.
“Focus on the dimples you try to convince yourself you hate, even though I know you look for them every time I smile.” Sure enough, his grin spreads, and my traitorous eyes flick to the dimples framing it.
The thumb he runs over my bottom lip has my eyes dragging from his dimples to meet his gaze. “Focus on my lips.” His voice is a murmur, a caress like the fingers brushing my face and mouth. “Don’t be shy, I know this wouldn’t be the first time.”
My eyes drift to his lips, trailing over the sensuous curve of them. He’s so very easy to look at, to admire. Everything about him is annoyingly alluring, distracting so easily—
Distracting.
When my eyes light up with the realization of what he is doing, his slight smirk tells me I’m correct. This calculating boy just distracted me from a dead body using nothing but himself to do so.
“Are you sure that was to distract me and not to boost your ego?” I ask, my voice deceptively calm.
“Why can’t it be both?
“Ass,” I mumble.
He hasn’t stopped smiling at me. “I may be an ass, but I just saved yours.” And then, without warning, his smile vanishes and is replaced by serious scrutiny as he looks me over. “How are you? Have you calmed down?”
I breathe and shut my eyes for a moment. An image of Sadie’s bloody body flashes in my mind before shifting into my father’s.
“I’m fine now,” I lie, hating how strained my voice sounds.
He shakes his head at me, muttering, “I told you. You’re a horrible liar, Gray.”